Windows Phone 7 Application Development – Start to Finish

Welcome to the Windows Phone. This Document contains the basic steps needed to develop apps on windows Phone 7. By now, you should already have heard of Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 mobile OS. And while many developers are busy developing for Android and iPhone, Microsoft is hard at work, developing its killer mobile OS that could give the competitors a run for the money. Before you dismiss Microsoft as a serious contender in the mobile space, think again. The new OS is now a total rewrite of the older Windows Mobile platform, and sports many features that you have come to expect of a modern mobile operating system.

The First Steps

Get the tools

Developing for Windows Phone 7 is easy, almost all of the Microsoft Operating Systems are supported except a few.

The Windows Phone SDK includes Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, Windows Phone Emulator, XNA Game Studio, Expression Blend for Windows Phone, samples, and documentation. If Visual Studio 2010 Professional or later versions are already installed on your development computer, an add-in for Visual Studio 2010 Professional is automatically installed. For more information, seeVisual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone.

You can download and install in a single file everything that you need to build and publish Windows Phone applications. However, to optimize your applications for 256-MB devices, you also should consider installing the Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update. This release is an an SDK update that contains additional tools for developing for 256-MB devices.

Deploying and debugging your application you can use Visual Studio to deploy your application to a Windows Phone device or to Windows Phone Emulator. If you have installed Windows Phone SDK 7.1.1 Update, you can deploy your application to a 256-MB emulator or to a 512-MB emulator. For more information, seehow to: Build and Deploy a Windows Phone Application Using Visual Studio.

Fundamental concepts for Windows PhoneThe following sections introduce concepts that are fundamental to Windows Phone application development. We recommend that you familiarize yourself with this content before you begin creating your application. Below are the links that you can navigate to.

Publishing applications to the marketplace.When your application is completed, you can sell it on the Windows Phone Marketplace. Consumers can buy and download applications from a centralized location and payments are automatically handled for you.

This topic guides you through the steps of submitting your application for distribution through the Windows Phone Marketplace. The Windows Phone application development lifecycle consists of the following general steps:

Register as a Windows Phone Developer.Windows Phone Dev. Centeris the website where you register for membership as a Windows Phone developer. Dev Center is also where you submit and manage your applications for distribution through the Windows Phone Marketplace. You should register for membership as a Windows Phone developer before you begin creating applications because some development tasks, such as installing your application on a physical phone for testing, require Dev. Center membership.

Preparing your Application IconsImages that represent your installed application on a user’s phone include the tile on the Start screen and the tile in the installed application (or game) list. These files exist in your Windows Phone application project. When you submit your application for certification, these files are part of your .XAP file. For more information, see Application Artwork.

The Marketplace Preparation Test kitThe Marketplace Test Kit provides a suite of automated, monitored, and manual tests to help make sure that your applications are accepted in the Marketplace the first time you submit them. The Marketplace Test Kit enables you to test your application against the certification requirements right from Visual Studio. For more information, seeWindows Phone Marketplace Test Kit.

The .XAP fileWhen you finish your application and build your project in Visual Studio, Visual Studio creates the .XAP file for the application. The .XAP file contains the executable file and all the resources needed by your application.

Application artworkWhen you submit your application for certification, you provide the artwork that represents your application in the Windows Phone Marketplace catalog. For more information, seeApplication Artwork.

Submit your Application for Certification After you have assembled the prerequisites, you are ready to submit your application to Dev Center for certification. For the full list of certification requirements, see theApplication Certification Requirements for Windows Phone. After the application has satisfied the certification requirements, you are notified. If you chose the automatic publication option during the submission process, your application is automatically published, otherwise you can publish it manually on the Dev Center dashboard. You can review your application submissions at any time on the Dev Center dashboard.

Link to your Application in the Windows Phone Marketplace Catalog After your application is published; it appears in the Windows Phone Marketplace catalog. You can create links that to allow users to jump directly to your application in the Windows Phone Marketplace catalog. These links can be used in emails, text messages, and applications. For more information, seehow to: Link to Windows Phone Marketplace Content.

Porting your application to Windows Phone.The following resource will help you port your application to windows Phone.